button in SafariDanny Tang Leads Final 18 After Day 2 of $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball
Limits: 30,000-60,000
Danny Tang may be one of the faces of Triton Poker, but the ambassador dropped down stakes significantly as he bagged the Day 2 chip lead in Event #77: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball at the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
Tang, who is looking for his second bracelet, leads a stacked field of 18 remaining players that includes Poker Hall of Famer Eli Elezra, longtime American pro Andrew Kelsall and recent $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship third-place finisher Allen Kessler, all of whom bagged toward the top of the counts.
Further down the counts are five-time bracelet winner Brian Yoon, 25k Fantasy players Patrick Stacey and Kevin Choi, and Dylan Smith, who is on the hunt for his second bracelet of the summer after winning Event #71: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet.
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danny Tang | Hong Kong | 2,600,000 | 43 |
| 2 | Andrew Kelsall | United States | 2,270,000 | 38 |
| 3 | Eli Elezra | Israel | 1,585,000 | 26 |
| 4 | Mark Gregorich | United States | 1,560,000 | 26 |
| 5 | Arthur Morris | United States | 1,320,000 | 22 |
| 6 | Ryan Ko | United States | 1,045,000 | 17 |
| 7 | Jordan Siegel | United States | 845,000 | 14 |
| 8 | Allen Kessler | United States | 830,000 | 14 |
| 9 | Dylan Smith | United States | 750,000 | 13 |
| 10 | Ko Goto | Japan | 705,000 | 12 |
Day 2 Action
The day began with a sizable field of 151 players that included some heavy hitters, including newly minted nine-time bracelet winner Michael Mizrachi, fan-favorite Jean-Robert Bellande, Poker Hall of Famer Todd Brunson and actor James Woods.
The money bubble burst a few hours into the day, but it took more than a half-hour of hand-for-hand play for that to happen. Ray Henson had some birthday run good as he was forced all in from the big blind but was dealt a pat Badugi to double up. An orbit or so later, Eric Cloutier fell to Smith as his jack couldn't beat a nine in A-5 Triple Draw.
Some of those who made it to the money include three-time bracelet winner Jason Daly (40th - $5,992), bracelet winner Andres Korn (33rd - $6,707), and three-time bracelet winner Xixiang Luo (31st - $6,707).
Day 3 will kick off on Thursday at 1 p.m. local time. Action will pick back up on Level 23 with blinds of 15,000/30,000 and betting limits of 30,000/60,000.
The event is scheduled to play down to a winner, who will earn the bracelet and top prize of $223,177. All 18 returning players are guaranteed a minimum payday of $9,201.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $223,177 | 7 | $24,289 |
| 2 | $145,365 | 8 -9 | $18,301 |
| 3 | $96,888 | 10 -11 | $14,149 |
| 4 | $66,103 | 12 -17 | $11,255 |
| 5 | $46,191 | 18 | $9,201 |
| 6 | $33,077 |
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back on-site tomorrow to see out Event #77: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball. Check out the live reporting hub for other coverage of the 2026 WSOP.